There are dozens of prior art disclosures of mechanical and static devices that have utility in connection with the separation of solids from liquids. Most of the devices have numerous moving parts and as such are mechanically complicated. Typically, a rotating screen is transversely disposed in a longitudinally flowing stream of liquid and hook members carried by the screen lift debris therefrom; the debris is usually delivered by the hooks to a hopper for disposal. Examples of such devices are shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,864,359 to Laughlin et al., 2,489,454 to Henno, 2,885,080 to Goldman, and 3,526,589 to Meller et al.
It is clear that an effective separator of solids and liquids having no moving parts would be of great utility and would save government and industry a substantial amount in equipment maintenance and energy costs. However, the prior art neither teaches nor suggests how such a device could be supplied.